Excellent collection of musical instruments though the ages and from around the world. Some explanations of types of instruments, but could have been much more. Ability to hear how some of the instruments sound, but again, not all. Could have had a better guide so that there would be some more systematic routing. If interest is just the instruments, well worth a visit. If interest is in the music made by these instruments, and some history of the instruments, could have been much better.

I was quite intrigued to visit the Musical Instrument Museum to see what was on display and was not disappointed! When I visited it was 15 Euros and you get an audio guide to take you through the museum. There are lockers to put your bags and outside clothes which is really helpful. There is a lift to take you to the floors of the museum. I was advised to start on the lower ground floor and work my way up to the top which was very helpful. Within the museum there are LOADS of different musical instruments from throughout the world and different ages right up to the present day. The audio guide lets you listen to the instruments so you can hear what they sound like. There is a well stocked gift shop with all sorts of souvenirs you can buy for you or your loved ones. On the third floor there is a magnificent view of the city and well worth checking out for picture opportunities.

Fantastic museum if you are a musician or a lover of music. Best part was musical samples of most of the instruments that you could play on a headset. Many instruments I had never heard of before and it was amazing to listen to how they sound

The first room had little flow, and little interpretation. They provided audio guides to listen to the instruments but often the numbers didn’t corroborate to the instruments, and it was difficult to tell when purchasing tickets if you needed to pay for “earphones” to get the guides or not. We paid for 1 between the two of us but both got given a guide so still unclear. The second floor room was much more interesting and had better interpretation and more flow, but we had started flagging by that point, so would recommend you go up stairs first. There was also a small section of African musical instruments. It seemed like most of these were from the Congo, and given both Belgiums chequered history with the country, and the anti- colonial strides much of Western Europe is trying to take, I’d have liked to have seen that section framed in slightly less of the tone of a racist Victorian explorer taking about the bizarre instruments of the natives.

This museum should be on every music-lover’s list for a Brussels visit. The audio guide added so much to the experience. The beauty and history of the instruments was unparalleled. I was even lucky enough to be there when a trio performed on their baroque instruments in the concert hall! This is a museum I will be telling people about forever.

We enjoyed our visit. I was thrilled to see the instruments housed in a building that is also such a fabulous example of Art Nouveau architecture. I loved also being able to use the headset to hear a sample of how the instrument sounded.

You don’t have a museum of musical instruments in every city and certainly not with such a great collection! So in that sense a must see when you are in Bruxelles. The atmosphere in the museum is a bit darkish with low ceilings, no doubt also to protect the instruments from the influence of light. The shop was open, the restaurant closed when visited.

They have a great collection modern and now defunct instruments. I have been a pianist composer and arranger most of my life, and found the display of the instruments rather random and disjunct. The personal audio device, when it worked properly, didn’t describe the instruments. For example, what is the point of an audio clip of wood being sawed when describing how a violin is made. No description, no explanations, just wood being sawed. Headphone audio fidelity was also not good. Very grateful that entry was free on the day we went.

We visited this museum in the last spare hour we had on our visit to Brussels. To be fair, it deserved more time but as we had the Brussels Card, it was effectively free. The building was lovely and the audio interaction you got as you walked around was interesting. I learned quite a bit too, even as a keen musician… including the ridiculously complex made up German word for piano! If you have some time to spare and like music, give this museum a go.

Great museum in a beautiful art nouveau building! You can get some headphones and a little device that allows you to hear all the historical musical instruments being played! The device crashes a lot but its easy to fix and worth it to hear these amazing ancient instruments as you go through the museum. The building is truly stunning. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed when we went but I hope to go back some time!